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VALENCIA CITY—A group of sugarcane planters in Mindanao has asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to extend emergency financial assistance to sugarcane farmers whose farms were devastated by the red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI), which has infested at least five provinces in Mindanao.
Manuel Antonio Zubiri, president of Mindanao Sustainable Sugarcane Agricultural Development Federation Inc. (Minfed), called on Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian to extend the agency’s emergency cash transfer program to small sugarcane growers affected by the pest.
The RSSI infestation has affected sugarcane farms in Bukidnon, Cotabato, Sarangani, Davao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
READ: Sugarcane pest spreads to 23 towns in Iloilo
